Newcastle United have long been the favourites to sign Kristoffer Ajer but The Atheltic are now reporting that a move for the Norweigan international appears to be unlikely as they pursue other targets.

His attitude off the pitch may not have gone down well with Steve Bruce, according to Steve Howey who urged the club to do their due diligence on the defender.

The 6 ft 6 centre back's likely destination is now Norwich City with fresh reports emerging in the last 24 hours claiming the Canaries are well and truly underway to secure a deal for the Celtic man.

There has been previous criticism about the £12 million rated defender's performances on the pitch for Celtic but also for how he conducts himself in the media when he's not with the Bhoys, something Frank McAvennie has spoken about before.

If Ajer is a type of player that looks at his own personal gain and performances before how the team are doing then it may be a bullet dodged by the Magpies and hopefully, they have done thorough scouting into him, according to Howey, who spoke exclusively to Transfer Tavern:

"The club have to do their due diligence on players and the recruitment team have to be spot on about what he's like on the pitch and with that criticism from Frank McAvennie they have to know what he's like off the pitch.

"You don't want him to come in and then all of a sudden he thinks it's not the move that he had hoped for and then wants to leave. So, it's imperative that the club look at him and look at his background to see what kind of character he is."

Newcastle have had their fair share of players that have arrived at the club and then within a season or two have wanted to force their way out of the club - two recent examples are Yohan Cabaye and Moussa Sissoko with the former even going on strike to try and force through a move to Arsenal.